Playing card holder for windy conditions

ABSTRACT

A device for holding one or more stacks of playing cards in windy conditions is disclosed. The device comprises a frame portion and a card-holding portion. The frame comprises a base for contacting a ground surface and a support portion for movably retaining the card-holding portion. In a desired embodiment, the device comprises two card-holding portions for retaining two stacks of playing cards, for instance, a drawing stack and a discard stack. The device can operate via force of gravity or through a spring-loaded mechanism.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

(1) Field of Invention

The present invention relates to a device for holding one or more stacks of playing cards in windy conditions.

(2) Description of Related Art

Playing cards of various sorts have been in use for hundreds of years. Being usually of light and flat construction, playing cards are susceptible to being swept away by wind. This makes it difficult to play cards outdoors when there is wind, or even indoors if there is a strong fan. Current methods of holding a stack of playing cards down in windy conditions include holding them down by hand or holding them under a weight such as a rock. Holding a stack of cards down by hand is cumbersome, while using a weight such as a rock makes it difficult to draw from or discard into the stack without physically lifting the weight off of the cards.

Thus, a continuing need exists for device which can hold one or more stacks of playing cards in windy conditions and also allows a user to discard or insert cards from the held stack with minimal difficulty.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

The present invention relates to a device for holding one or more stacks of playing cards in windy conditions. The device comprises a frame portion and a card-holding portion. The frame portion comprises a base for placing a stack of playing cards thereon and for supporting the device as a whole against a ground surface. The frame further comprises a support portion connected with the base for attaching with and movably retaining the card-holding portion and for providing a vertical surface against which the stack of playing cards is stabilized. The card-holding portion comprises a material piece attached with and movably retained by the support portion of the frame, the card-holding portion configured to contact a top surface of the stack of playing cards, and to apply a force to the top surface of the stack of playing cards such that the stack of playing cards is frictionally retained between the card-holding portion and the base of the frame portion.

In another aspect, the device comprises two card-holding portions supported by the support portion, and the base is configured to hold two stacks of playing cards to be retained between the base and the two card-holding portions.

In yet another aspect, the card-holding portion comprises a substantially rounded surface at a place where it contacts the top surface of the stack of playing cards in order to reduce surface area and thus reduce friction between the card-holding portion and the stack of cards, whereby cards can be easily drawn from and discarded into the stack of playing cards.

In a further aspect, the card-holding portion of the device exerts force against the top surface of the stack of playing cards by a mechanism selected from the group consisting of gravitational force and spring-loaded force.

In yet another aspect of the device, the card-holding portion is movably retained by the support portion of the frame through a retention mechanism selected from the group consisting of retention within a hole in the support portion, and retention by a hinge attached with the support portion.

Finally, in another aspect of the device, the card-holding portion exhibits a force of 1.8 ounces to 2.2 ounces on the top surface of the stack of cards.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed descriptions of the various aspects of the invention in conjunction with reference to the following drawings, where:

FIG. 1 is a an illustration showing a playing card-holder device in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an illustration showing a playing card-holder device in accordance with the present invention, where the device is holding two stacks of playing cards;

FIG. 3 is an illustration showing a spring-loaded and hinged playing card-holder in accordance with the present invention; and

FIG. 4 is an illustration showing a hybrid aspect which incorporates both gravity-operated and hinged elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention relates to a device for holding one or more stacks of playing cards in windy conditions. The following description is presented to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to make and use the invention and to incorporate it in the context of particular applications. Various modifications, as well as a variety of uses in different applications will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to a wide range of embodiments. Thus, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments presented, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a more thorough understanding of the present invention. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without necessarily being limited to these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form, rather than in detail, in order to avoid obscuring the present invention.

The reader's attention is directed to all papers and documents which are filed concurrently with this specification and which are open to public inspection with this specification, and the contents of all such papers and documents are incorporated herein by reference. All the features disclosed in this specification, (including any accompanying claims, abstract, and drawings) may be replaced by alternative features serving the same, equivalent or similar purpose, unless expressly stated otherwise. Thus, unless expressly stated otherwise, each feature disclosed is only one example of a generic series of equivalent or similar features.

Furthermore, any element in a claim that does not explicitly state “means for” performing a specified function, or “step for” performing a specific function, is not to be interpreted as a “means” or “step” clause as specified in 35 U.S.C. Section 112, Paragraph 6. In particular, the use of “step of” or “act of” in the claims herein is not intended to invoke the provisions of 35 U.S.C. 112, Paragraph 6.

Further, if used, the labels left, right, front, back, top, bottom, forward, reverse, clockwise and counter clockwise have been used for convenience purposes only and are not intended to imply any particular fixed direction. Instead, they are used to reflect relative locations and/or directions between various portions of an object.

(1) DESCRIPTION

The present invention relates to a device for holding one or more stacks of playing cards in windy conditions. FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a desired aspect of the device 100. The device comprises a frame portion 102 and one or more card-holding portions 104. The frame portion 102 comprises a base 106 for placing a stack of playing cards thereon and for supporting the device 100 as a whole against a ground surface. A support portion 108 is connected with the base 106 for attaching with and movably retaining the card-holding portion 104. The card-holding portion 104 comprises a material piece attached with and movably retained by the support portion 108 of the frame. In the non-limiting example in FIG. 1, the card-holding portion 104 is movable vertically 110 within a hole 112 in a horizontal support beam 114 which comprises part of the overall support portion 108.

FIG. 2 shows the device 100 holding two stacks of standard playing cards, a drawing stack 200 and a discard stack 202. The card-holding portion 104 is configured to contact a top surface 204 of the stack of playing cards, and to apply a force to the top surface 204 of the stack of playing cards such that the stack of playing cards is frictionally retained between the card-holding portion 104 and the base 106 of the frame portion. Furthermore, referring to both FIGS. 1 and 2, in a desired embodiment, the card-holding portion 104 comprises a substantially rounded surface 118 at a place where it contacts the top surface 204 of the stack of playing cards in order to reduce surface area and thus reduce friction between the card-holding portion and the stack of cards, whereby cards can be easily drawn from and discarded into the stack of playing cards. The contacting surface 118 of the card-holding portions is preferably comprised of a material with a relatively low frictional coefficient such as, but not limited to, steel, aluminum or a hard plastic, in order to allow the cards to slide into and out of the top of the stack. The support portion also comprises a vertical surface 120, against which the stacks of playing cards 200 and 202 can be pushed against in order to stabilize the stacks of playing cards during use.

The devices shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 have two card-holding portions 104 supported by the support portion 108, where the base is configured to hold two stacks of playing cards 200 and 202 to be retained between the base 106 and the two card-holding portions 104. However, the present invention should not be construed as limited to having two card-holding portions. Referring to FIG. 1, the dotted line defines a vertical plane, upon which the device could be imagined to be bisected and serve as a functional one-deck card-holder. Furthermore, an alternate aspect of the device could feasibly hold any number of decks of cards by expanding the frame portion in any of a variety of ways such as width-wise, length-wise, etc., and adding more card-holding portions to accommodate the desired number of decks. Such modifications would be entirely within the capabilities of one skilled in the art.

In the aspects shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the card-holding portion 104 exerts force against the top surface of the stack of playing cards 204 by gravitational force on the card-holding portion. To aid gravity, the card-holding portion may comprise a weighted knob 118. Preliminary tests have shown that a desired force to be applied to the card surface of a standard deck of playing in order to perform the functionalities of the present invention is in the range of 1.5 to 2.5 ounces, although forces outside of that range may also be functional, and the optimal force to be applied may vary depending on the specific construction of the device and the type of playing cards. Please note, however, that the present invention should not be construed as limited to the above specified range, as it is presented primarily to aid one skilled in the art to construct a functional device. It should also be noted that the frictional characteristics of the card contacting portions 118 of the device may also affect the optimal force to be applied to the cards.

FIG. 3 shows an alternate aspect 300 of the present invention wherein the card-holding portion 104 is spring-loaded 302 rather than gravity-loaded. As with the previous embodiments, the frame 102 comprises a base 106 and a support portion 108. In this aspect, the support portion 108 is truncated to provide a more compact device. The card-holding portion 104 is movably retained by a hinge 304 connected with the support portion 108. Note that it is also possible to have the card-holding portions 104 attached directly with the base 106, in which case the base 106 would also function as the support portion 108. In the spring-loaded embodiment 300, the card-holding portion 104 may have small rounded tabs or balls 306 for contacting the playing card surface rather than the larger weighted knob of the gravity-operated aspects.

FIG. 4 illustrates a hybrid aspect 400 of the device which incorporates gravity-loaded card-holding portions 104 of the FIGS. 1 and 2 aspects, along with the hinged 304 attachment mechanism and truncated support portion 108 of the FIG. 3 aspect. Also, as with FIGS. 1 and 2, the card-holding portion 104 in FIG. 4 is fitted with a weighted knob 118 to supply the desired downward force on a retained deck of cards. 

1. A device for holding playing cards in windy conditions, comprising: a frame portion; and a card-holding portion, where: the frame portion comprises: a base for placing a stack of playing cards thereon and for supporting the device as a whole against a ground surface; and a support portion attached with the base for movably retaining the card-holding portion and for providing a vertical surface against which the stack of cards is stabilized; and where the card-holding portion comprises a material piece movably retained by the support portion of the frame, the card-holding portion configured to contact a top surface of the stack of playing cards, and to apply a force to the top surface of the stack of playing cards such that the stack of playing cards is frictionally retained between the card-holding portion and the base of the frame portion.
 2. The device of claim 1, comprising two card-holding portions supported by the support portion, and where the base is configured to hold two stacks of playing cards to be retained between the base and the two card-holding portions.
 3. The device of claim 2, where the card-holding portion comprises a substantially rounded surface at a place where it contacts the top surface of the stack of playing cards in order to reduce surface area and thus reduce friction between the card-holding portion and the stack of cards, whereby cards can be easily drawn from and discarded into the stack of playing cards.
 4. The device of claim 3, wherein the card-holding portion exerts force against the top surface of the stack of playing cards by a mechanism selected from the group consisting of gravitational force and spring-loaded force.
 5. The device of claim 4, wherein the card-holding portion is movably retained by the support portion of the frame through a retention mechanism selected from the group consisting of retention within a hole in the support portion, and retention by a hinge attached with the support portion.
 6. The device of claim 5, wherein the card-holding portion exhibits a force of 1.5 ounces to 2.5 ounces on the top surface of the stack of cards.
 7. The device of claim 1, where the card-holding portion comprises a substantially rounded surface at a place where it contacts the top surface of the stack of playing cards in order to reduce surface area and thus reduce friction between the card-holding portion and the stack of cards, whereby cards can be easily drawn from and discarded into the stack of playing cards.
 8. The device of claim 1, wherein the card-holding portion exerts force against the top surface of the stack of playing cards by a mechanism selected from the group consisting of gravitational force and spring-loaded force.
 9. The device of claim 1, wherein the card-holding portion is movably retained by the support portion of the frame through a retention mechanism selected from the group consisting of retention within a hole in the support portion, and retention by a hinge attached with the support portion.
 10. The device of claim 1, wherein the card-holding portion exhibits a force of 1.5 ounces to 2.5 ounces on the top surface of the stack of cards. 